Add an observation:
To add an observation, you can do so by clicking on one of the four icons at the bottom left of this panel. Each icon represents, from left to right, weather constraints (or conditions, cloud icon), instrument configuration (or resource, filter wheel icon), target information (sun icon), and observation time (clock icon). Once you click on any of the icons to create an observation, all other components will also show up in the window. For instance, if you click on "Target" icon and enter a target, then the other items (Configuration, Conditions, Observation) will also show up. Double-click on each node to enter the required information.

Grouping by:
To re-organize your observations, drag the Conditions, Resources, Targets labels at the top of the panel to the left or right. The options can be put in any order, but the default ordering of Conditions:Resources:Resourdes is recommended.

Configuration (filter wheel icon): You can select the instrument, observing mode, grating, slits, filters, etc. here. The wizard will lead you through a "decision" tree of modes and their options.

Target (sun icon): This will bring up a new Edit Target window where you can enter a new target manually or query SIMBAD, NED, or Horizons. Target information entered here will automatically show up under the Targets tab.

Lookup: If you know the target name, then you can type it in the "Lookup:" box at the bottom of the panel. The software will first check whether this target is already in the targets list, and will use that, if it is present. If the target is not in the target list, then it will look up its coordinates and brightness from one of the three catalogs (SIMBAD, NED or HORIZONS, selected from the Menu bar).

If you have multiple targets, you can also read in a target list in one of the acceptable formats by selecting "Import targets..." from the File menu.

You may also copy/paste targets from the Targets tab. An efficient way to make observations of lots of targets that have similar conditions and resource needs is to add the conditions, and resoruces, load a list of targets using the Target tab, or "Import targets...", then copy/paste the targets onto the Resources node. The observation times then can be entered manually or duplicated with copy/paste.

Guiding: This column will show a red/yellow/green (bad/marginal/good) stoplight icon, and percentage for the likelihood of finding a suitable UCAC3 guide star or guide star asterism (GeMS/GSAOI) given the weather conditions and the specified instrument configuration. Details of the parameters used are given here. Only guide stars for the default wavefront sensor for the instrument/mode are evaluated. The geometries of all the wavefront sensors are included in the algorithms. For wavefront sensors with symmetrical fields (e.g. PWFS1 and PWFS2), the percentage indicates whether a guide star is available or not. For instruments with asymmetrical wavefront sensor fields-of-view (e.g. GMOS, FLAMINGOS-2, GeMS/GSAOI), the algorithm checks for guide stars over a complete range of position angles (PAs). The percentage shown is the percentage of positions tested that have suitable guide stars. If the success probability is less than 50% and a specific PA is required then the Observing Tool (OT) can be used to check whether a guide star is available at that PA. If the indicator is red, then please change the weather conditions or the target, so that guiding is feasible. In some cases, a small change in position may also bring a guide star into the wavefront sensor field. This can be checked with the OT. If the likelihood is low but a guide star is available then please add a brief note in the technical justification.

Vis: This column will show a red/yellow/green (bad/marginal/good) stoplight icon indicating the visibility of the target in the given semester. This is the result of a comparison between the coordinates of the target and the RA/Dec limits for the semester and observing mode. If red, please consider proposing the target for a different semester or a different site (Gemini North vs. Gemini South).

GSA: This column will show a red/yellow/green (yes/some/no) stoplight icon indicating any duplication of data in the
Gemini Science Archive. If duplication is indicated, highlight the observation, then click on the blue GSA icon at the lower right of the panel to view a list of the data found in the Archive in your web browser.

Manipulating Observations

Once an observation is created there are a variety of ways of editing and manipulating the nodes.

Undo/Redo: Undo/redo options are available for all changes and actions to the observation nodes. If something unexpected happens or you make a mistake, just undo!

Highlighting nodes: Click on a node to highlight it. Command/Alt-click on a node to deselect it. Whether or not a node is selected determines the behavior of other features. If a node is selected and you click one of the "add node" buttons from the bottom of the panel, the placement of the new node depends on the current organizational hierarchy. If the node to be added is lower in the current display hierarchy, then the new node is added below the selected node. If the node to be added is at the same level or higher in the hierarchy, then a new observation "tree" is created. For example, with the default Conditions/Resources/Targets hierarchy, selecting a resource/configuration node and then adding a new target will put the target under that resource node. If no nodes are selected, then adding a node will create a new observation "tree".

Drag/Drop: A node and all sub-nodes can be drag/dropped into another place in the hierarchy. The node must be dropped into a node that is higher in the current hierarchy. While dragging, the locations where you may drop your selection are highlighted in grey as you mouse over them.

Copy/Paste: A node, and all sub-nodes, may be also be copy/pasted. This is done with key commends Cntl/Commend-c and Cntl/Command-v or by selecting options from the Edit menu. Copy/Paste works similarly to drag/drop, and nodes may only be pasted where they can be dropped. However, copy/paste also works between the Targets, Observations, and Band 3 tabs. For example, you can copy an entire observation in the Observations tab, switch to the Band 3 tab (if Consider for Band 3 is Yes), paste the observation, and then edit the observing conditions. You may also select multiple targets from the Targets tab and paste all of them into the appropriate place in the Observations or Band 3 tabs.